Peeking over the lid of the swamp like the orbs of a dreaded crocodile
The dank aspect of them, squinted into mascara lines and longest lashes,
Watch for death through innocence.

We sit two feet, three feet, in a Jeep high above the marsh world
Immune to its dangers, removed from the essence of its beauty
Watching for death that is not ours.

Beneath the surface of floating hyacinth, scent and scented,
The undulating current suspends the weak and the strong
Waiting for nature to sort them into bins.

A cry! The shriek of an infant torn from its mother’s safety!
The wailing of loss. The gasp of surprise from those in the Jeep.
But it’s only a capybara after all.

The capybara’s eye sees the world differently.

As you can see, my owner wrote a dumb poem about capybaras. That got her thinking that virtually anyone could write a dumb poem about capybaras. So she decided to have another contest. This is a poetry contest. Here are the rules.

Poem must contain the word capybara

Poem must not be more than 100 lines long

Contest ends on September 11th, 2010

No profanity, must be kid-friendly

The poem does not have to be in English. Including a photo to illustrate your poem probably helps.

Prizes are:

A copy of my book, Celeste and the Giant Hamster

A Caplin Rous, the World’s Most Famous Capybara mug

A plush Caplin Rous (won’t be available for a couple of months)

Dokidoki plastic toy capybara (sitting or standing, take your pick)

First place winner gets first choice of prize, 2nd place winner choses from remaining prizes, third place winner gets third choice of prizes.